A COMMUNITY action group has called for a revamp of Bury St Edmunds railway station and its surrounding area.

Members of the Bury Society say the Grade II listed building, on Station Hill, is in need of attention and have suggested forming a friends group to help maintain it.

Chairman Alan Jary is due to meet with MP David Ruffley next month to highlight their concerns and discuss a way forward.

He said: “It’s not up to the standard of the rest of the town and we don’t want it to slip back any further.

“It had a major restoration 20 years ago. It’s now in need of decoration and there’s an awful lot of land around it which is vacant, idle and untidy.

“The area could be much improved. It isn’t a quality welcome to the town and doesn’t really represent the quality of the town.

“We would love it to become as attractive as some of the other stations with flowers and hanging baskets. A friends group might come in to help maintain something like that.”

The group could be a sub division of the society or an independent entity.

Mr Jary added: “We will have to get as many people around involved as possible. We would like to see what’s the best way of going about it in harmony with everyone even the taxi drivers who get business from it. It should be all encompassing.”

A spokeswoman for National Express East Anglia, which is responsible for the day to day upkeep of the building, said the station will be repainted in the autumn.

The company is also finalising plans for improvements for customers to the booking hall as part of its Access for All scheme.

She added: “The station is cleaned on a daily basis. We’re always happy to work with community groups and this has proved particularly successful at March station.

“We also run a station adopter scheme which encourages the local community to take an interest in their local station.”

A spokeswoman for Network Rail, which is responsible for some of the surrounding land, said the company takes its responsibility for keeping the land in a good state ‘very seriously’ and hadn’t had any complaints. Anyone with concerns can call them on 08457114141.